help

collapse

Press one of the expand buttons to see the full text of an article. Later press collapse to revert to the original form. The buttons below expand or collapse all articles.

expand

collapse

Bath Porn

September 14, 2009 permalink

When Lisa and Anthony Demaree turned in photos of their children for processing, Wal-Mart staff in Arizona construed pictures of tots playing in the bath as kiddie porn. The children were placed in foster care and subjected to genital examination. The parents have been cleared and are suing three government agencies and Wal-Mart.

expand

collapse

Parents sue Wal-Mart & Arizona after CPS takes children because of bathtub photos

September 14, 8:00 AM, Albany CPS and Family Court Examiner, Daniel Weaver

Arizona Government Buildings
Arizona Government Buildings. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Lisa and Anthony Demaree of Maricopa County, Arizona have filed a lawsuit against the State of Arizona, the Arizona Attorney General and the City of Peoria, after their children were taken away by Child Protective Services because of photos the parents took of their children while on vacation in San Diego.

The photos were of their young children at play and in the bathtub. An employee of the Wal-Mart store where the Demarees took the photos to be processed notified authorities of the photos.

The photos, however, were not child porn, but simply the type of photos that most Americans have taken of their children when they were babies or toddlers. The Demarees not only had their children taken, but the children were examined for sexual abuse.

Furthermore, according to the lawsuit, "On September 3, 2008, Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Hunter, acting within the scope of her employment, published defamatory remarks to more than thirty-five family members and friends of plaintiffs, falsely stating that plaintiffs Lisa and A.J. Demaree "sexually abused" their children." The Demarees' eomplaint also alleges that "Peoria Police Detective Krause made false and defamatory statements to agents and employees of the Defendants." Among the statements made by Krause was one "that said parents were engaged in illegal actions by taking bath and play time photos of their children."

No evidence of sexual abuse was found, and the parents were cleared of all charges. However the Demarees, along with Mrs. Demaree's parents who have joined them in the lawsuit, state that the "Defendants intentionally inflicted severe emotional distress on Plaintiffs." The Demarees state that they have also suffered from headaches, nightmares, a general feeling of malaise, shock to their nervous systems, grief and depression.

The Demarees are leaving the amount of damages to a jury. They have also filed a separate lawsuit against Wal-Mart.

Source: National Examiner

Addendum: Newspapers are understandably reluctant to publish photos deemed to be child pornography. Here is one, published by the brave San Francisco Chronicle.

expand

collapse

Demaree babies

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

sequential